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New here

First let me say that I am new to this forum but not the forum world. I have Jeeps and those forums have helped me out over the years. Enough of that, I bought a 2001 325i with only 90,000 miles. Runs great, interior is near perfect. I bought it as a daily for the wife to drive. I have been lurking around and checking on things and it does have the typical oil leaks, parts ordered to fix those already. I have a couple of questions that I can't seem to find the answer for. This car has the dial heater controls. Can the digital controller be swapped in and just plug and play? I saw a video by some crazy Russians and they did just that and it worked? Any thought to that? Same for the radio can the Business CD be swapped in for the cassette version?
Thanks ahead of time for any help and sorry for the long winded question

Yes, a head unit with a CD player is a straight swap as long as the new head unit is from a 1999-2002 E46. Model year 2003 saw a different head unit in the E46. The new head unit uses a single radio frequency (RF) input that’s used for both AM and FM stations. The head unit in your car gas separate inputs for each type of RF signal.

How did a manual hvac car get in the USA? All E46s sold in the USA market gave automatic climate control (IHKA in BMWeze). I’m betting it’s not a easy swap unless the 5 electric flap motors are in the dash. You could buy a used IHKA for the car and see if it works. Be advised there are several different part #s for the IHKA. Go to www.realoem.com and enter the last 7 characters of the car’s vin. Hit enter and bookmark the page. Scroll down to heating/ac to get the part # that’s right for your car.

Ran the vin, the results back up what I new, bought and lived it’s entire life in the Chicago area. I have the service records and nothing shows to be changed. The decode says it should have the business cd but the car has a cassette. If I come across the digital controls I will get them just to see if the swap will work

My recommendation is that you keep the manual controls. Yes, the digital controls look slick and everything, but you have to take your eyes off road to adjust them, and that causes you to be an unsafe driver if you do so while the car is moving. The manual controls are completely tactile - you can make any adjustment you want without looking down. I own BMWs with both types of controls and I far prefer the manual ones for this reason. Just my two cents' worth.